OVER 8,000 homes were left without power in and around Loughborough on Friday, January 23.

Lights throughout parts of the town went off after a cable fault in a sub-station at around 8pm.

Correspondents to the Echo reported intermittent cuts throughout the evening.

And some people had to wait until 10.30pm for their power to be restored.

The power cut also caused problems on the railways due to it affecting the signals.

Trains were unable to stop at Loughborough for a while and it led to delays throughout the evening for rail users.

A spokesperson for Western Power Distribution said: “We had a fault in one of the sub-stations in Loughborough which happened around 8pm on Friday evening.

“It affected approximately 8,053 properties. Of those, 7,130 had their power back on again within the hour, so around 90 per cent of those affected.

“The last property to have its power restored went on at 10.30pm.”

The power cut also caused problems on the railways due to it affecting the signals.

Trains were unable to stop at Loughborough for a while and it led to delays throughout the evening for rail users.

East Midlands Trains tweeted advice for delayed travellers on how to claim compensation.

A spokesperson for the company said: “A power failure near Loughborough caused problems with signalling in the area around 7.30pm on Friday, January 23, affecting services in the area. However, signalling was restored an hour later.”